In Sheikhupura Multifaith Residents Petition Police To Protect Local Ahmadi Place Of Worship

A petition carrying signatures of 54 residents on stamp paper of Rs100 has been submitted to Sheikhupura DPO

In Sheikhupura Multifaith Residents Petition Police To Protect Local Ahmadi Place Of Worship

In a show of solidarity, 54 residents of a Shiekhupura neighbourhood have submitted a petition with the local police to protect a worship place of the local Ahmadiyya Community, which dates back to the 1960s.

Fazal Karim filed the petition on a Rs100 stamp paper in the Narang Mandi police station in Sheikhupura for the District Police Officer (DPO).

The petition states that area residents from different faiths and sects are living peacefully in their village.

They add that the local Baitul Zikr -- the place of worship of Ahmadiyya Community -- was built in 1963, well before the 1984 ordinance. 

The signatories certify that they have no objection to the structure or aspects of its architecture, nor do the features, including minarets and mehrab, do not cause injury to their religious sentiments.

Instead, if these features are destroyed, it would cause them hurt. 

The petition carried the signatures of 54 residents.

The petition also carried an Urdu translation of a recent verdict by the Lahore High Court in which such structures and features built before the 1984 blasphemy law were deemed as protected.

The petition comes as the Ahmadiyya Community faces a fresh wave of violence by extremist elements who, under police protection and supervision, have been attacking the Ahmadiyya Places of Worship and demolishing the features.